Top Mortgage Lenders 2017

Since 2012, Scotsman Guide’s Top Mortgage Lenders has offered a platform for the nation’s best performers to showcase their success. This year, the effort continues with the sixth annual round of rankings that present the industry’s top-producing mortgage companies across retail,
wholesale and correspondent lending.

We are often asked why some big names in the mortgage industry are not included in Top Mortgage Lenders. The answer is easy: This is not a survey. The Top Mortgage Lenders rankings are based on data provided by leading mortgage lenders that are interested in being recognized for their
outstanding performance. The rankings are free and open to enter, but lenders have to go through a rigorous verification process to confirm the accuracy of their production data.

Read on to find out what the rankings tell us about the state of mortgage lending.

Despite dips in volumes and loans across the board, many mortgage lenders managed to maintain — or even grew their business — in 2017. The declines appeared less dramatic than expected and are in line with the overall industry trend in the past year.

The aggregate volume of the top 75 lenders ranked on our 2017 Top Overall Volume list was $526.6 billion, compared with the $574 billion for the 2016 counterpart group. Similarly, their total number of loans was 2,041,117 in 2017, compared to 2,251,962 loans closed by the 2016 counterpart
group.

Caliber Home Loans climbed from No. 2 in the 2016 rankings to No. 1 on our Top Dollar Volume list for the 2017 rankings, with nearly $44 billion in production across retail, wholesale and correspondent loan lines. The Texas-based company, with operations across all 50 states, increased its
volume by more than 8 percent from 2016 to 2017, a hike that earned it the No. 5 rank on our Top Volume Gain list.

The highest overall loan-volume gain from 2016 to 2017 was registered by United Wholesale Mortgage, which increased its total from $23 billion to $29.5 billion over the period. With this whopping increase, United Wholesale also kept its hold over the No. 1 spot on the Top Wholesale Volume
rankings for the third consecutive year.

Retail

A long-anticipated rise in interest rates finally was seen in this past year — and it was felt across origination volumes as refinances declined. The overall retail production of the 25 lenders ranked on the Top Retail Volume 2017 list was $248 billion, much lower than the $280 billion of
the 2016 counterpart group.

For the third year running, loanDepot maintained the top spot on our Top Retail Volume list, with nearly $30 billion in retail volume, a slight decrease from its $32.4 billion in retail volume in 2016.

Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp. came in second on the Top Retail Volume rankings, with nearly $20 billion, a nice climb from No. 4 in the 2016 rankings thanks to a 22 percent increase in its retail volume year over year.

Guaranteed Rate kept the No. 3 rank on the Top Retail Volume list, with $19.2 billion in retail volume, compared to $22.9 billion in 2016. With its entire volume in retail production, the company’s lower volume placed it No. 6 on the 2017 Top Dollar Volume list, down from No. 5 on the 2016 list.

Wholesale and correspondent

Declining production volumes appeared to varying extents in the wholesale and correspondent categories. The overall wholesale production of the 25 lenders ranked on the 2017 Top Wholesale Volume list was $101.6 billion, slightly lower than the $104.6 billion of the 2016 counterpart group, despite
the big volume increase of United Wholesale Mortgage.

The overall correspondent production of the 10 lenders ranked on the 2017 Top Correspondent Volume list was $72.4 billion, marginally lower than the $72.5 billion for the 2016 counterpart group. With the absence of Freedom Mortgage Corp. from this year’s rankings, Flagstar Bank clinched the
top spot on the Top Correspondent Volume list, with nearly $25.8 billion. That exceeds Freedom’s 2016 correspondent volume of $21.3 billion, which earned the lender the top spot on the 2016 Correspondent Volume list.

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Congratulations to all the mortgage lenders that made Top Mortgage Lenders 2017. Adapting to the ups and downs of the mortgage industry has become the new norm. It does take agility and skill from everyone who leads and makes decisions for these top performers to stay on top of the lending
game.